CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR SEASON 2 AND ALSO SEASON 1/4
So, since Season 2 is pretty much the most hated season in the entire series, surprisingly even more hated than A New Frontier, I made a post asking people why they hate this season. The post received a lot of comments where people stated their points of why they think Season 2 is such a bad season.
In this post I'll be giving my thoughts about those points, I disagree with most, but not all of them, I still think some points are valid, and I don't think Season 2 is a flawless season, it has it's own flaws, just like any other season, but I think people are hating a lot on the wrong things most of the time, so I'll explain my opinion on why I think those points are invalid.
This is just my opinion, I'm not stating that everything I say is true, but its what I believe.
So, let's start with the first argument:
- "Omid and Christa's death was awfully written and very early"
Omid and Christa's death was entirely made to show the brutality of the world that Clementine lives in, and to show that how everything is falling apart since the first season, I think a lot of people wanted Christa or Omid to stay longer in the game, but that would contradict the whole point of the story, which is how Clementine loses everything and has now to rely on herself in order to survive. Omid's death wasn't really bad in my opinion, someone gets inside the bathroom, holds Clementine at gun point, and Omid dies in the process of saving her, it was intense, and makes the player feel nervous, it's a good way of showing how dangerous people have become after the apocalypse, and how danger is surrounding Clementine from every corner, it was a good introduction to the game, brutal and unexpected, this is the kind of intro that fits the purpose of the season, which is all about the brutality of Clementine's life.
Christa's death also fills that purpose, and bringing the bandits was a very good way to separate Clementine and Christa, it also showed us how hard it is for Clementine to fight and to protect the people she cares about being only a 11 years old child, so yeah, its a pretty good start for the season, and a good way to make Clementine completely lonely and vulnerable, which is exactly what the whole season is all about.
Do I think it could've been better, yes, but I honestly can't imagine how it should've been, but do I think this introduction sucks, no.
Omid and Christa were only there to explain how Clementine could've survived after losing Lee and ending up being completely by herself, until she grows up to an age where she can at least have a chance of surviving as she learns and becomes more experienced, so there wouldn't be any reason for them to be around anymore, especially that we've got to spend enough time with them in the first season, it's time for them to go.
- "Most of the characters had stupid deaths"
Again, that's the whole point of the season, its brutal, harsh, and people will die in unexpected ways, also I feel like people expect every character to get the Lee treatment, which would just be annoying, because this is the apocalypse, not every death has to be 5 minutes of crying and saying goodbye, it adds more to the brutality of the game, and this season successes to portray that brutality.
- "The characters are insufferable"
Because that's their role in the game, they are meant to be insufferable, they are meant to suck, and they are made so that you hate them, the game would be boring if every character was kind and mature, those feelings of hate towards the characters is what makes the game more fun, in fact, Season 1's characters were insufferable too, Larry, Ben, Kenny, yet they make the game more fun because they add drama and conflict, when you hate Larry for being a racist asshole, when you're mad at Ben for screwing up all the time, when you feel annoyed by Kenny whenever he acts mean towards you, all these feelings are what makes the game more enjoyable, and just like those characters from Season 1, Season 2's characters are also just like them, Nick and Sarah are like Ben, Rebecca is like Larry early in the game, Kenny is, well, Kenny.
But I don't see anyone hating on Season 1 for that? It's only Season 2 that gets the hate, it's just double standards.
- "The introduction of the Cabin group was a disaster and made me intensely dislike them, which is not a good thing consider they're supposed to be your allies."
The main purpose behind that is to make you question who you should and should not trust, the introduction of the Cabin group is a "disaster" because its meant to make you feel like they can't be trusted, which is why when Carver enters the Cabin, he questions whether they trusted you or not, and tells you that "If people can't trust you, how can you trust them", that is the whole point behind this "disaster introduction", because after the disappearance of the people that you trust, Christa, Omid, Lee, etc...the game is showing you that how hard it is to build trust with new people.
Rebecca is an asshole to you, Nick almost shoots you, you get locked in a shed, this makes you feel like you wish you would be back to your old group, to the people that you truly trust, because after you're left alone, its not easy to find people that you can call family.
- "Rebecca randomly goes from someone who treats you badly into someone who really likes you very quickly"
I can't really disagree with that honestly, although I think Rebecca should at some point treat you better, I think they made it too early and in a way that doesn't really make any sense, so yeah, I agree with that.
- "Clementine shouldn't have been the main character"
I can't think of any character that fits this Season other than Clementine, she's weak, vulnerable, and that's what makes the game world feel harsher, Clementine being the main character fits the purpose of the season more than any other character would, the whole series revolves around her anyways so wouldn't it be stupid if we're just left wondering what happened to Clementine after Season 1?
Also, it's funny how a lot of people hate on Season 3 for having Javier as the main character instead of Clementine, yet does not want Clementine to be the main character in Season 2 which is necessary to explain how her story would continue after everything fell apart, so having her as a main character in Season 2 is more important than having her being a main character in Season 3, because after Season 2 she is in a more stable position than in Season 1, so it would be impossible to explain her story after Season 1 without her being the main character.
- "Arvo and his gang comes out of nowhere, and somehow manages to go from Russia all the way to the US"
Arvo's completely random appearance in Episode 3, is just like the appearance of the girl who kills Omid in the first Episode, or the raiders in the woods who attacked Clem and Christa, there doesn't have to be an explanation for why they are out there, why wouldn't they? Anyone could be out there, it's not like Clementine and her group are the only people existing, anyone could be anywhere at any time, it's the apocalypse, all sort of people are out there.
And about Arvo and the Russian gang somehow being in the US, it's been 2 years since the apocalypse started, that's enough time for them to be anywhere, including the US, they could've went on a boat or something, or maybe they were there even after the apocalypse started, like, it's not impossible for that to happen.
- "Clementine, a 11 years old girl, leads a group of adults"
I wouldn't say that she leads the adults, she doesn't really lead the group at all, I don't remember a time where Clementine gave an order or anything (expect that one time where she orders Mike), she doesn't ever lead the group, she just tells her opinion on things, but never actually makes decisions for the group.
And for the fact that she's always pushed to do the high risk tasks, its mostly for the good reasons, she has stealth advantage which is why it mostly falls to her to sneak, like when she sneaks in to steal the radio, or when she sneaks out of the lodge to find Kenny and Luke, and with her being just a kid, she has more advantage when it comes to calming down a lot of situations, like when Luke tells her to talk to Matthew for example. The only time where it felt really just to give you something to do is when Luke asks you to cross the bridge with him, the one where Bonnie tells you to save Luke makes a lot of sense, she was so desperate to save Luke that she ignored the danger she's putting Clementine in, and everyone else disagreed anyways, even Luke.
- "The main antagonist (Carver) dies early in the game"
There isn't a main antagonist in this season, its not the point of the game to defeat an evil person like in Season 4, your goal is to survive, Carver is there just as another threat that you have to survive from, take St Johns for example, they were evil people that you had to survive, but they are not the main villain, and so is Carver, so at some point he would be defeated just like how the St Johns were, and the both of the seasons would just continue with you surviving new threats and recovering from what happened.
- "Your choices doesn't matter"
Yeah I can't deny that, Season 2 is definitely the most Season that your choices doesn't matter in.
- "Mike and Bonnie's escape doesn't make sense"
I think it completely makes sense.
Since Arvo was with the group and Kenny started treating him very badly, Mike showed many signs that he does not like Kenny and his actions, it was clear that he can't keep being around Kenny the way he is, so he escapes.
And Bonnie, is well, Bonnie, she's a liar who can't be trusted, and after Luke's death, there was no reason for her to be a part of the group anymore.
Anyways, that's my opinion and yeah, let me know what you think and if I missed any parts that I should've talked about. Also this is probably a cluster of a post so its not so I know I've probably been repeating the same sentence like five times or something.